This DIY Tin Can Helps Kids Keep Themselves Busy Without an IPad
It’s hard to compete with the convenience of iPads and phones to keep kids busy in cars, planes, restaurants, waiting rooms and anywhere else where the words “I’m bored!” often heard. But with a little planning, you can get your hands on a tin can for these very situations.
Resourceful mom Eleanor P.J. created the play described above for her son to bring to camp as electronic devices will be banned on the trip. She used an empty pencil jar and added lots of toys and games for old-fashioned tactile fun: Lego bricks, colored pens and stickers. She drew play nets on the inside of the lid with a Sharpie and then pasted the gems onto magnetic paper to use as play pieces. Eleanor covered the front of the can with a sheet of whiteboard and attached a clean pen with a magnetic lid to it.
“My son loved playing games with a friend he lived with in a tent,” says Eleanor. “He thought it was pretty neat.”
BuzzFeed also has some fun ideas for making mobile minigame kits out of mint cans .